Update

I just thought I would update everyone on our journey to get Baby Blackman here safe and sound. At my doctors appointment yesterday, we had a serious conversation with my doctor and he told us we could make the decision on whether to move my c-section date up. He told me I could call him and reschedule for any day this week and he gave us the pros and cons of taking the baby earlier. We went to lunch afterward and after wearing most of my lunch, I finally made the decision to change my date to this Thursday. After making the decision I felt a 100 times better. I am happy to see a very close end to this emotionally draining experience and to know that the baby is OK! So the baby's birthday will be September 7, 2006 around 1:30. We will update as soon as we are home. Until then, here are some recent pictures! Just think the next picture I take of the kids will have all three of them in it!!!! YAY!!!

Happy Birthday Papa Carson!!!

Today is Papa Carson's Birthday!! We went to Roscoe yesterday to spend the day celebrating with him. He enjoyed some time with his grandkids. Happy Birthday Papa Carson! We hope you have a good day!

Brotherly love

For the first time ever, Matthew is too tired to eat!

Lately we have had a hard time getting Luke to let us take his picture, so when he is actually cooperating I take full advantage of it. Matthew and him were sitting in his little recliner last night and they were both being so darn cute! Luke had Matthew laughing so hard. It is nice to see that they love each other so much. I am sure they will have their share of arguments though.

Our week in review

Luke had a very busy week. He started preschool on Tuesday. He was pretty sure of himself, walking right into the school and going straight to his classroom. He was pretty excited to be going to an actual school. He goes to school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays from 7:45- 12:00. He can even eat breakfast if he wants. So far in the first week he had Music, Computers, Spanish and recess. I am sure he did a lot more, but this was all we could get out of him. Jared talked to the principle and she said that Luke's computer wouldn't work in Computer class. Luke told her not to worry, his Dad taught him how to fix computers and he would take care of it. He started clicking all over like he knew what he was doing.
I went to pick him up yesterday and was informed that shy Luke had left the building. It sounds like he has really gotten comfortable. Jared and I have seen a big change and we are glad we made the decision to send him. We are very fortunate to have such a great program in this area.
Matthew has adjusted to big brother being gone quite well. The first day he crawled around to every room and yelled looking for his big brother. He has really enjoyed his time alone with Mom though, so he adjusted quickly. We are still waiting on a tooth to come through. We keep having all the signs of one coming in, but nothing is there. I am beginning to think the next baby will have teeth before Matthew!!!
Mom is adjusting ok. I think it will be a crazy year. This is a lot more like school than the preschool he attended last year. That means he can't miss like he did last year. That and we have school pictures and a parents night coming up in September! Luke also starts Awana soon and I have agreed to help with MOPS this year. I have also signed up for a Bible Study on Tuesday nights at the church. Luckily the MOPs and Bible Study are every other week. I am also getting VERY anxious for the baby to get here. I am more than ready and am getting a little impatient =). I am sure Jared is getting tired of hearing me complain, but he has been a good sport and has tried to help anyway he can.
Jared spent most of last month running around with his head cut off. The distance learning changes kept him VERY busy and he has spent the last couple of weeks trying to catch up on the other responsibilities he fell behind on. Hopefully with a long weekend he can accomplish what he needs to, to get caught up.
That is all for now. I hope to be updating soon with news of our new addition! Stay tuned!

Luke's first day of preschool

Luke ready for his first day of preschool.

Dad walking Luke into school.

Dad and Luke getting ready to leave for preschool.

Today was Luke's first day of preschool. It is actually his second year of preschool, but his first year at this one. We found out last week that Hayes Center was providing a preschool at the school. After finding out all the fun things Luke would be learning, and finding out it would be three days a week, we felt it would be perfect for him. We met the teacher last Friday and Luke was really excited to go this morning. I will update later when we find out how he liked it!

I was in Wal-Mart tonight and was looking through the kids/baby section. I found pajamas that came in both Matthews and Luke's sizes and I couldn't pass them up. I always told myself that I wouldn't do that, but now I am getting excited for Nathan to get here so I can do it to all three of them before they get too old and won't let me anymore!

Matching pajamas

Jack Parker Vrbas

I wanted to post some new pictures of my nephew Jack on the blog, but it has been forever since I have seen him. So I thought you could all check out my brothers blog at... http://www.vrbi.blogspot.com
He updates it very regularly so check it out. In several of Jack's recent pictures he really looked like Matthew. I hope I can see him in person soon!!!

Updates

My big brother, Dave, called today to see how the pregnancy is going and I realized I needed to update for everyone. I have hit my 36th week and go to the doctor next Monday. So far everything has gone good. This has been a much easier pregnancy than the last. I must say, I am ready for it to be over though. Having the pregnancies to close together has been a little hard on me physically. I am also unable to lift Matthew up like I use to. I have had to get a little creative on how I lift him. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, afterall, in 3 weeks I have my scheduled c-section.
I have been a little jumpy today. Jared's Mom and Dad left for Idaho yesterday for a ten day much needed vacation, Tori has her soap scrimmage on Friday, and my Dad also goes on call on Friday. Jared also starts his CISCO class tomorrow and is in Benkelman the next two days. I figure if the baby is going to come early, it will happen this week when there are so many other things going on. This really isn't based on how I am feeling at all, so don't get excited yet!
Jared and I have been trying to get everything ready so we are prepared. We worked in the yard all weekend trying to get it ready for fall. We are hoping we will have the next two weekends to work on it, we have a lot more to do!
That is all for now! I will try to keep everyone updated!

Pictures

Luke painting!

Matthew climbing the stairs at Papa Jerry's and Grandma Tami's.

Matthew hoping his Dad would let him drive.

Matthew with his pouty look. He was tuckered out from our family day!

The fair!

Joe, Peyton and Luke on the bear ride. This was their favorite ride once they found out it spun. I think they rode this one about 10 times!! They even got Papa Jerry to ride it with them!

Papa Jerry and Luke and Joe and Peyton on the "pretend horses".

Luke and Peyton on the motorcycles.

Matthew trying to get through the gate. He was getting a little upset that no one was letting him go on the rides!!!

Luke and Peyton on a carriage ride together.

Papa Jerry decided Matthew needed in on the fun too!

He really liked his ride!

Luke was feeling REALLY brave and decided he wanted to go down this slide. We were a little surprised since he hates slides. Well he climbed all the way to the top, looked down and decided he really doesn't like slides after all. Jared had to climb up and get him!

Matthew decided he was hungry, but he didn't want to take a break from all the fun, so he thought his foot would do!

Once it got dark and the lights really started going Matthew got really excited. That and Papa Jerry decided to give him funnel cake, so he had a lot of sugar! He must have been hungry still because here he was trying to eat his Dad's hat!

I hate goodbyes!!!

This year has presented itself with many obstacles. I think after losing a child you should get a "free pass" that allows you to not have to deal with anything else but that loss for up to one year afterwards. Well, we all know reality is, life goes on. This means that you still have to deal with day to day issues even though the smallest of these issues feels suddenly like a mountain.
That brings me to the point of this post... As the delivery of our next addition gets closer and closer, we take comfort knowing that we will have family and friends around to lean on if we feel the need. I was comforted in that until earlier this week when I learned that our close family friends, Curtis and Shelly Kayton, are moving ten hours away. The only thing that was comforting was thinking they won't move before the babies delivery. Well, it looks like we only have about 2 short weeks to say goodbye.
Curtis and Jared have spent many late nights fishing. Shelly and I had a flying trip to Grand Island to do a little shopping and have enjoyed decorating all the rooms in my house. But it isn't the fishing and shopping we will miss the most. These are the people who have stood beside us during some very hard times. They were there for us when we had some marital issues and never judged or bad mouthed either one of us through out any of it. They were also the ones Jared called at 2 A.M. the night our daughter died to drive him to the hospital. They sat there with us and prayed and cried as we had to say goodbye to our baby.
They didn't just stop there. Shelly did many behind the scenes things for the funeral, from looking up songs to decorating with all the pictures.
Through the last year she has been incredibly patient with me as I did more pushing away than being a friend. And finally when I was ready and able to be a friend again, she was there with open arms. I know I can tell her anything and she will not only be understanding, but it won't go any farther than between her and I.
I feel incredibly selfish as I sit here wondering what I will do without her in the next year, as this is a very positive move for them. I actually couldn't be happier for them... I'm just sad for us!!!
I did tell her I would help them sell their house, so if anyone is looking for an awesome house in Palisade, let me know. If not, she promised that if Jared and I bought it she would stick around and help me decorate! It wouldn't be a bad idea to buy a house so you could spend a little more time together would it? Ya- that's what I thought!

More pictures of the boys

Matthew making funny faces.

Luke in the pool in Kearney!

Matthew got ahold of a black crayon and colored himself a black eye! (Check out that tongue!!!)

Jared's latest project

Carson on the backhoe!

The foreman (Luke) checking in on his workers (Papa Carson and Dad).

Chad and Jared- if it wasn't for their height they look like they could be twins.

Dad crawling through the crawl space, Chad in the very back waiting for pipe.

Dad sitting down on the job!

Carson and Jared pushing wire.

Jared, Dad and Luke

Jared has been a little busy lately. He has been putting in extremely late nights and very early mornings trying to get the schools up and going before school starts. He has been all over southwest Nebraska, on one day going from Dundy County to Bartley and stopping in between at several schools. We haven't seen him much at all, so we went up to Hayes Center today to see his latest project. His Dad was there with his backhoe digging the trench he needed, and my Dad and Chad were there pulling wire and drilling holes. Needless to say Luke loved being in the middle of all of it. Here are a few pictures!

Maya

As all of you know our lives drastically changed on December 14, 2005, the day our baby girl died in her sleep. The last couple of months have been full of emotions and hurdles to get through. Finding out I was pregnant just a little over a month after her death presented itself with many more emotions. Now that the time draws closer to the birth of our new bundle of joy, it brings new emotions. Maya has touched our lives in ways we could have never imagined. We will always be thankful for the short time we had with her, and will always wish the time could have been longer. She is in our thoughts daily and we know when the new baby comes she will be smiling down on us.
So, here's to you baby girl! We miss you!

Footprints

How very softly you tiptoed into my world.
Almost silently,
Only a moment you stayed.
But what an imprint
Your footsteps have left
Upon my heart.
Dorothy Ferguson